Combination-fuse for artillery-projectiles.



K. VOLLBR.

COMBINATION FUSE FOR ARTILLERY PROJBCTILES.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 8, 1911.

Patented Dec. 17, 1912.

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UNrrED szrA'rEs PATENT OFFICE.

KARL VLLER,OF DUSSELDORF, GERMANY, ASSIGNOR T0 RHEINISCHE METALL-WAAREN- UND MAYSCHIENFABRIK, OF DUSSELDORF-DERENDORF, GERMANY,

A CORPORATION or GERMANY.

COMBINATION-FUSE FOB ARTILLERY-PROJECTILES.

Specication of Letters Patent,

Patented Dec. 17, 191k,

application sied August s, 1911. serial No. 642,98.

To all wir om z' may-concern.'

Be it known that I, KARL VLLEn, engineer, a subject of the GermanEmperor, residing at Dusseldorf, 12 Scharnhorststrasse, Germany, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Combination- Fuses forArtilleryfProjectiles; and I do hereby declarel the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

The action of the ordinary combination fuse on impact depends on thefact, that a plunger, in conquence of its momentum, shoots forwardrelatively to the body of the projectile, which is retarded orcompletely stopped in consequence of the impact.. This causes the primerto be pierced by the tiring pin and detonated. The force, with which theplunger is moved relatively to the body of the projectile, depends upon.the difference in the speeds of these two bodies. It is greatest if theimpact entirely destroys the motion of the projectile.

.Vhen targets are aimed at, which do not otter `the necessaryresistance, for example ainships and particularly the fabric of balloonsor the covering of flying. machines, the projectile would be so littledelayed in its movement, that an ignition in the passage of the shotthrough the covering 'would very seldom happen. For this reasontheinertia of the plunger has not been utilized to tire the charge ofprojectiles inteifjded for shooting at air-ships. The plungjer hasinstead been driven forward on impact by the force of a spring. Theimpactonlvy releases a restraining device, which allo s the force of thespring to come into act-ion.

lAccording to my invention the explosion lof the projectile. will beeffected by the release of a plunger, which release is capable of beingbrought Vabout in either of two ways, rst, by impact, and secondly, byvtimed ignition, the latter occurring in the absence of the former.

The accompanying drawings illustrate a form of construction of thecombination fuse according to my invention.

part of the projectile with the parts in the i 2. Fig. 5 is a crosssection at the line 5 5,

4F ig. 2. The ignition member o is screwed into the front part of theprojectile case a, which latter incloses the bursting charge. In theignitionmember b there is a longitudinally movable sleeve e the axiswhereof coincides with the axis of the projectile. A firing pin f isshown as screwed into this sleeve, and as having forwardly andrearwardly projecting points. detonator L is loosely arranged within thefore part of the sleeve, and is loosely held by the slight. restraininginfluence of a plate spring i, the ends of which are placed inengagement with the rounded end of the sleeve. This plunger has atendency, when the projectile is in flight, to move back relatively tothe projectile as a whole.. As the spring z' is not very strong in itsresistance it allows the plunger to so move, so `that lthe A plunger gCarrying detonator z will strike against the for- Wardly projectingportion of pin f, the spring 2' being displaced by the rearward movementof the plunger. By the engagement with the tiring pin f the detonator Lis exploded, and this explosion is transferred to two powder charges 0and also to the Ypowder in two known relatively adjustable timing ringsc, d, whichlatter are set in the manner usual with timing fuses.

The outer end of sleeve e is closed by the pointed end of theprojectile, and when the latter is being transported this end is coveredb y a removable cap m.' Any displacement of the sleeve e in the forwarddirection is prevented by an inclosing nut n. Within the rearward. endof sleeve e is located a springimpelled plunger p carrying at itsforward end a primer or detonator g. This plunger is normally under theinluence of a coiled spring r, the tendency of between a shoulder of theplunger and the.

end flange of sleeve bushing a.

The sleeve e is normally retained inl its forwardly projecting` position(Fig. 1) by coperatingv retaining plates t and these plates, according`to the means shown, are also relied upon to holdv plunger p in itsretracted position, with spring-1` under tension.- The two plates t aredisposed trans'- versely to the axis of the projectile and are setwithin a recess in the' inner end of the ignition member They arenormally held against the cone shapedv surface v Aof their recess by theoutward pressure of two coiled springs u.

The release of plunger p is brought'about by the axial dis lacement ofsleeve e. This is designed to eeected, in the first instance, by point kof the projectile striking the target, but-is also capable of beingaccomplished, secondarily, through the ignition of the powder in thetiming rings. This displacement of sleeve e causes the plates t toslideover the conical wall o of their retaining recess,overcoming-thereby the tension of springs u. The sensitiveness of thecombination fuse ,when impact occurs can, in consequence, be adjusted tosuit the targets. As soon as these retaining plates t have been movedout of their recess, theyare forced by springs u out of engagement withplunger p, and will .thereupon fall intovv a chamber lw which is partlyformed by the projectile case and partly by the ignition member. Withinthis chamber v"w is the detonator for igniting the bursting char e, andit remains in this chamber until by t e rearward, displacement of sleevee it is moved into position. for firing, that is, is moved into a box ywhich extends into the bursting charge. It is not possible for thecharge 'to be fired by an explosion of the detonator while the latter islocated within chamber w, since an exit channel .e is provided for thegases as a means of safety. This channel is normally closed by a cover lwhich is easily removed by the pressure,

of the gases.

In consequence of the release of the plunger from the retaininginfluence' of plates t, thepressure of spring r acting on the'plunger.will project the latter forward and cause the detonator g to strike therearwardly Aprojecting portion of firing pin f (Fig. 3). The llamepasses `through aperture 2, extending longitudinally through theplunger, to theprimer w, through the-detonation ofwhieh box y is,pierced, and the charge ignited.

Inasmuch as the fuse is mainly intended for projectiles to be Vredagainst airships,

it is the purpose of myA invention to provide for bringing about theexplosion through the instrumentality of a time-fuse, the expiosion inthis manner being effected in case thetarget is missedpr there is noimpact sullicient to edectktherdisplacement ot sleeve ipavez e. If suchadditional means be not employed, a projectile missing the target mightbe detonated on impact with the ground, resulting ir unintentionalinjury. Hence from the l circular compartment wherein timing ring c islocated, an aperture 3, (Figs. l and 5) leads to an explosion box 4which .is located on an extension 5 of the sleeve bushing s. When thisborg 4 is exploded the pressure of the explosionon extension 5 issufficient to unseat the retaining plates t, thereby allowing a relativemovement between sleeve e and plunger p. In other words, the-sleeve islongitudinally displaced, the plunger` impelled forward, and thecombustible charge detonated, as a result of the explosion of box 4, theaction being the same as 'that which follows impact.

From the circularv chamber of the charging ring c a channel' (Figs. 2 5)also leads 'through the ignition tube 7 to a chamber at the base of theycombustion parts,I not shown in the drawing, and completely separatedfrom the charge, which serves to show the path of the projectile.

The operation of my combination fuse will be readily understood fromwhat has been said. When the gun is fired the powder'gas give a .verystrong impulse to the shot. As the resistanceA offered by spring z' isovercome by the plunger g, Athe detonator h is exploded by contact.'With'f-iringv pin f and this explosion is transferred both to powdercharges o and also to the powder contained in timingl rings '0, d; Untilthe powder charges o are ignited they aid plates t in supporting head kand sleeve e in their forward positions. After the powder charges obut-n, and the shot strikes against the target the sleeve e ispushedrearwardly, thereby displacing retaining plates t and. plungerppallowing the shot to be explodedv through detonators g and Should theshot not meet the target or there be insuieient impact, the flame vofthe burning powder in timing rings c, d, upon reaching the powderchannel 3 will ignite the explosion charge in the box 4, resulting inthe dlsplacement of sleeve e in the same manner aait. the shot hadstruck the target. Itis manifest that the rings c, d, must be so timedthat the explosion of box 4 takes place only in the event of the shothaving failed to contact with the target.

I claim as my invention 1. A fuse for projectiles comprising adetonating plunger, a longitudinally-movable member, means for allowingthe plunger to effec an explosion when the member is movel by impact,and means for effecting such latter movement in the event of the membernot being moved by impact.

2. A fuse for projectiles comprising a spring-impelled detonatingplunger, a lon- ,tgitudinally movable member, means norlio of the membernot beingnmove'dby impact.

4.: A fuse for projectiles comprising a det-y onating plunger, alongitudinally movable member, means forallowing the plunger to effectian explosion when the member is moved by impact, and tianinglfmeans foreffecting such `latter movement in the event of tlieinember not beingmovedy by impact.

5, A fuse for projectilescomprising a spring-impelled detonatingplu-ngena longitudinally movable member, means normally restraining theplunger and designed to be released when the member is nryved b impact,and timing means for effecting suc latter movement in the event of themember not being moved by impact. l l

t3. A fuse for projectiles comprisn a spring-impelled detonatingplunger, "a fongitudinally nl ,ovable member,` means normallyrestraining the plunger a'nd holdin said member in its'normal position,su means being rendered inoperative when the member is moved by impact,ltiming means for effecting such latter movement in the event of themember -not being moved by impact.

7. A fuse for projectiles comprising a spring-impelletijdetonating'plunger, a longitudin'ally-movable sleeve normally extendingfrom the projectile, means for normally.:y holding the sleeve extendedand the -pltinger retracted, suchmeans comprising `,retaining memberswhich are designed to'be displaced when the lsleeve is moved by. impact,and" means forjetlccting such llatterimovement y they, event of thesleeve not 4being moved .by impact.

8. A 'fusei for projectiles comprisi spring-impelled detonatingplunger,a onitudinally-movable sleeve normally extendy ing from the projectile,4means for normally holding the sleeve extended and the plungerretracted, such means comprising spring pressed members designed to bedisplaced when the sleeve .is moved by impact, and

`means for-effecting such latter movement in,`

event of the., sleeve not being moved by ,iinpactfv e 9. A fuse forprojectiles comprisin a spring impelled detonating plunger, aonitudinall y -rnovable sleeve normally extend ing from the projectile,means for normally holding the sleeve extended and the plungerretracted, such .means comprisinv retaining members which are designedto bdjsplaced when` the sleeve is moved by impact, an

initially-,acting detonator, and time controlled explosion means formoving said 'sleeve in the event of its not being moved by impact,'saidexplosion means being ignited by said initially-actiiigvdetonator.

10. A/ fuse for projectiles comprising. a spring-impelled detor'iat-ingplunger, a longitudinallyjmovable sleeve normally extendinglfrom theprojelitile, means for normally holding the sleevglexter f andtheplunger retracted, such means arising retaining members which aredesir;i f to be displaced when the sleeve is moire by impact, aninitially-acting' detonator. a time controlled explosion means "for mm.le said sleeve in the event ,of its not being# med by impact, and apowder charge' ster-mediate said initially-acting detonator rfi saidexplosion means'. i

Y In testimony whereof, 'i rave signed this `specification in thepresence of two subscribling witnesses.

KARL voLLER. [es] itnesses:

